AURUM: So… the party lasted for a while. When you spend a really long time linked together in a hive mind, and you finally go free, it sorta puts you in the mood to celebrate, right!?Nameless‘ is always down for a good party.Clarafina was even wearing her party dress!
AURUM: There are a few people who seem dazed, confused, a little lonely and lost - but they get tugged into drum circles, or sit around in circles with their hands lazily dangling in the Mud. It’s not all gone, and it never will be.
Ezekiel: Not that there's much difference between beind in the hive mind and collectively being stoned as balls……………
Nameless: You hush, there's a world of difference.
AURUM: 'Hah, Ezekiel would know.'
Ezekiel: But you're like, you know, one with the universe and shit, man. yeeeeah.
AURUM: 'By the way, I'm using single quotes now, so it doesn't seem like someone's actually, you know, talking, when I butt in.'
AURUM: 'Hope that's okay.'
AURUM: Ugh!Eidolon dips hands in mud, just as an experiment.
Ezekiel: "Oh hey your friend came back!" Says enthusiastically to… someone who isn't there?Solberg sticks to quieter parts of the party, with at least some drinks and pleasant conversation.
AURUM: Eidolon - it's the same familiar Mud you're used to - the dissociation, the expansion. Except, this is… this is you, already, isn't it? You don't -become- the stars, you already are - and your consciousness expands through the Mud like a nova, quicker than you'd expect. Something, within, something deep and far away, notices-
AURUM: Someone's familiar smile.
AURUM: Hard to say who, though…
AURUM: It's not like they come to say hello, at any rate.
AURUM: 'Maybe you'll come to them?'
Eidolon: "…very interesting." He withdraws hands and takes an extra long draw from a nearby wineskin.Ezekiel‘ glance to one side, then rolls eyes eye towards Eidolon’s direction, squints a little.Clarafina social butterflies about, surrounding herself with wine-glasses in various states of "She only took one sip from it" and "She is possibly considering taking a first sip from it" all tangled in her ribbons, following her like dutiful servants. She laughs pleasantly at conversations she drifts into, and then immediately out of.Eidolon takes a deep breath, as if preparing a tale. And then: "'The sailors who hang lanterns from their bows join in a pact with the Sin of Flight, damned and blessed be.'"
Eidolon: "At least, how it was an age ago."Ezekiel‘ tilts his head to the side.
Eidolon: "It afforded the sailors various protections and, well, some would say, curses. Don’t ask what the Mud is actually made out of, and certainly don't drink it."
Eidolon: "Breathing it is okay though?"
Ezekiel: "Not entire sure that's how mud works, but okay."
Nameless: "Your mud is very strange, Eidolon."
Solberg: Maybe Ezekiel's onto something about hallucinogenics not being any different from being collectively stoned as balls.
Solberg: "Why shouldn't you ask what it's made of, though?"
Eidolon: "It's how it works when it works like that. It was the ocean below the scattershot islands that floated miles above."
Clarafina: "It's made of the past."
Clarafina: "No?"
Eidolon: "Some people like to present the mystery."Eidolon shrugs. "Pretty literal on many accounts, yes."
Eidolon: "Also just of 'people-stuff' in general."
Eidolon: "Though there was -a lot- of it, so who knows how true that is, percentage-wise."
Nameless: "Mm. Mud made of the past. A man once knew of grass made from non-existence. Truly the universe is a mysterious place."
Ezekiel: "Would like… being grass… make is some kinda existance though…?"
Eidolon: "Anti-grass."
Clarafina: "And here I was, thinking grass was rather innoffensive!"
Nameless: "No, you walked into the grass and it unmade you. A man haad a very stupid friend that tried it."
Ezekiel: "Oh."
Ezekiel: "That's some pretty hardcore grass."
Nameless: "Very. Fortunately a man was there to drag him back by the collar."
Ezekiel: "…Wonder what would happen if you smoked it…"
Nameless: "A man suspects something very bad."Ezekiel‘ leans back in his seat, looking ponderous.
Clarafina: "That’s a bit offensive, yes."Eidolon laughs.Nameless‘ shrugs. "It was not so terrible. Since there was nothing in the grass, whole new worlds could be made in it without damaging things."Eidolon takes the opportunity to take a puff of the dreamweed floating about. The one burning in the pipe.
Solberg: "It’s funny, listening to people from your era. Substances and their effects on people were pretty well known. Doctors were foolproof, diagnoses were pretty much automated. Pretty sure there's an answer for those questions in our archives."
Clarafina: "Ooh, I'm not foolproof enough for you…?"Nameless‘ eyes her axe. "You do well enough, your highness."
Solberg: "You exceed their talents in surgery."Clarafina smiles brightly in Nameless’ direction.
Solberg: "But I think they've got you beat for internal medicine."
Clarafina: "It's true, it's true…"
Clarafina: "Whenever I ask someone to try swallowing it, they seem to go elsewhere."Ezekiel‘ pauses, points at Clarafina. "Eyyyyyyy!"
AURUM: Anyways, sorry about that. I hope it’s been a good party!Clarafina beams back. She offers an untouched wine-glass to Ezekiel, ribbon slipping forward.
Clarafina: "Have you tried this, by the way?"
Ezekiel: "Uh, probably." Knocks it back in either case.
Clarafina: She lifts it by ribbon to Ezekiel's lips, wrapping the black silk around his neck on the way there.
Clarafina: "Now, are we about done?"Nameless‘ eyes the ribbon. Eyes the princess. Raises an eyebrow.
Ezekiel: "I feel like any potential answer I give now is the wrong one,"
Ezekiel: Quick Aurum scene change before this gets weird!!!!!!!
Eidolon: "Let’s see… history lesson, surface-level flirting, ingestions…"
AURUM: As if on cue:
Eidolon: "And with the narrator back-"
AURUM: "So, where are you headed next?"
AURUM: It's the captain, from earlier. Before the party, before all of this.Eidolon sighs in relief, thank god there's still at least -some- separation of narrator and narrative.
Eidolon: "Who knows!"
Eidolon: "Usually there's something glowing and obvious, sometimes in the sky."
Clarafina: "There was a tower."
Ezekiel: "Uhh are there any suspiciously open books laying around…?"
AURUM: "Uhhh. Not really, but we found, uh, this…?"
AURUM: There's… a really big, ostentatious cannon just sort of chilling out in a courtyard, nearby.
Eidolon: "Three out of ten for delivery, but imagery is a solid 10."Solberg looks at the cannon, then looks over to Clarafina. "Any more wine left?"
Solberg: "I need to lower some inhibitions."
Ezekiel: "Oh come on."Clarafina spirals a ribbon all the way up around Solberg, from ankle to waist to neck, pressing a wine-glass to their lips and staggering them slightly off their feet.
Clarafina: "Yes!"
AURUM: 'Ugh, it's so hard not to make a 'canon travel' joke here.'
Eidolon: Who's joking?
Ezekiel: No one played secret of man, dude.Nameless‘ stands up. Takes a bottle of wine with one hand and some food with the other. "Perhaps a man wakes up in a new forest. That was some excellent stew." And proceeds to go dive into the cannon.Solberg looks rather nonplussed, but can’t get out of the ribbon in time. "I - you could have just handed me a glass." They almost don't take a sip, like a petulant child refusing to be fed, but realizes this isn't a battle they'll win.
Clarafina: "Isn't that what I did?"Clarafina heads over to the cannon, too, carrying Ezekiel and Solberg in her wake.Ezekiel‘ sighs reluctantly, gets up, ambles towards cannon, crawls inside.
Ezekiel: "Wh -
AURUM: The captain looks confused: "You’re trying to get someplace new, aren't you? How -do- people travel where you're from?"
Clarafina: Ribbons!
Ezekiel: "Uh cars mostly."
Clarafina: "Well, travel's considered ungodly, actually."muffled* Ahahahaha hahaha haha … Yes. Light the fuse.
Eidolon: "You hop and the world rotates."
AURUM: "…that sounds much less exciting." The cars, that is, not the ribbons; ribbons are a terrific mode of transportation.
Ezekiel: "Also this is totally gunna make me barf hime-sama, just sayin'."
Clarafina: "Though, some just fall."Eidolon gives one last puff, drinks one last glass, floats on in.Clarafina loads the cannon with Solberg. Then with Ezekiel.Solberg just angrily complies.Clarafina climbs in last. Daintily.
AURUM: Once you're all in, the captain knocks on the side of the cannon good-naturedly, lights the fuse. "Have a safe trip! I hope you come back again, sometime!"
AURUM: 3… 2… 1… Boom! It's… huh! You didn't expect it to be this -gentle-. You're in a comfortable, if a bit snug, bubble of magicked air - the bubble's conveniently doing all the spinning-around for you, almost certainly violating several laws of physics in the process -
AURUM: You arc gracefully up into the air…
Nameless: "This is much less harrowing than a man remembers.
AURUM: Through the clouds…
AURUM: Through more clouds…
AURUM: Through clouds upon which are written the words, ＜混乱大風ヘン ： Ｓｏ Ｉｔ Ｇｏｅｓ＞, in silvered ink…
Ezekiel: "…lol."
AURUM: (You leave a little puffy hole in those clouds, with a sound like a finish line ribbon being torn.)
AURUM: It's a magnificant view… of a lot of clouds… and it seems to be getting colder and colder, even through the magical insulation of the bubble.
Ezekiel: "So who was expecting to get shot into space?"Ezekiel‘ does not raises his hand.
AURUM: There’s a harsh wind, and you can hear it howling.Nameless‘ pulls his heavy coat around him. Wait what? Yeah.
AURUM: In the distance - burning so fiercely that you can see them even through the clouds - are stars, shining off at infinity.
AURUM: Feels like you’re losing momentum; like the clouds and winds are pushing against you. Cold, so cold - snowflakes, now, menacing little snowflakes. Tiny little daggers, all alike, none unique.
Ezekiel: "Soooo…"
AURUM: When you see land, it comes out of nowhere - a white tower, stretching into the heavens like a bony hand reaching out of the grave. The corpse of a city's splayed out around it.
AURUM: (Cardiac arrest, Clarafina could tell you.)
Ezekiel: "Oh, okay."
Eidolon: "Party's over, then."
Ezekiel: "There sure are a lot of towers, like. … Around."
Nameless: "Symbolism."Clarafina holds her skirt down as she descends. When she hits the ground, she pulls on her thick, black, fur-collared coat.
AURUM: Actually…
AURUM: You land in the tower itself. Like you're going to hit the tallest spire, maybe get skewered like a berry - but no, you drift down between cold arches and forgotten galleries.
AURUM: Finally, you come to rest on the surface of a frozen-over pool of quicksilver.
AURUM: The bubble pops with a little 'ping',
AURUM: and you're not alone.Ezekiel‘ flops onto the ground. "Oof."
Eidolon: Oh not this asshole.Unnamed Asshole glances to his side before pausing. He opens his mouth and closes it again before sighing. "I suppose this would explain the sudden influx of mana that was detected in a winter zone. If you travelers came here hoping to thaw out what was lost, I am afraid it will do little to save the dead."
Eidolon: "We’re miracle workers, not doctors. Except for Clarafina."Clarafina curtsies.
Nameless: "A side trip on a much longer journey."
Clarafina: "A pleasure to meet you."
Clarafina: "Did you know the deceased…"
Clarafina: "Or are you just a necrophiliac?"
Ezekiel: "Bro I'm just looking for a sports almenace."
Solberg: "Detected by who?"Ezekiel‘ sits up.Unnamed Asshole stares at Clarafina for a moment. He lets that one go before replying to Solberg. "Myself and a few others. I always wanted an excuse to come back here though, so I was keen to check it out."
Clarafina: "Were you in the will?"
Clarafina: "Because, gosh, this one has foul play written all over it…"
Ezekiel: "It’s just a tower…?"
Solberg: "I think we're just passing by. Or, at least, here to find a fiend, kill it, and move on."
Ezekiel: "Oh right, that's the thing we've been doing. Killing fiends."Unnamed Asshole chews at his lip before glancing at the rest of the party. "Is your friend always like this…?"
Ezekiel: "Yes."Ezekiel‘ doesn’t evne know who the person is asking about, but yes.
Solberg: "High? Yes. I have to wonder how he hasn't run out of his stash yet."
Eidolon: "We're a motley crew of maladjusts."
Ezekiel: "We're in a dream, I always got whatever I need in my pockets yo."
Nameless: "A man is perfectly adjusted. Wherever he goes, there he is."
Unnamed Asshole: "And you're just… roaming about killing fiends?"
Ezekiel: "Except tootsie pops. I think that's intentional tho."
Eidolon: "Well no, we're also restoring mana flows."
Ezekiel: "Yeah, I guess? And falling into books."
Solberg: "In my way."
Solberg: "Er. They're in our way."
Ezekiel: "Except we got shot out a cannon that time."Unnamed Asshole flips open a book he was holding in his offhand and scans through it. "Names?"
Eidolon: "Eidolon. Yours?"
Solberg: "It's polite to offer yours first."Unnamed Asshole snaps his finger at Solberg before nodding. "Yes, yes. I suppose that's true."
Clarafina: "Princess Clarafina Rosemont…!"
Ezekiel: "Uh. Ezekiel."
Unnamed Asshole: "One of you isn't an angel at least so that explains a bit more."
Clarafina: "…But I'm a twelfth princess."Nameless‘ gives a little shrug and spreads his hands in a ’who, me?' gesture.
Ezekiel: "IS IT ME?"
Ezekiel: "BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE IRONIC, BUT THE KIND OF IRONIC YOU GET WHEN YOU MISUSE THE WORD."Clarafina giggles.
AURUM: 'Pfffhahahahahahah.'
Clarafina: "Ooh, let's not all puff our chests up and try to make him think he miscalculated all at once."
Nameless: "No, a man simply doesnt have a name to give."
Unnamed Asshole: "… certainly a strange crew. At any rate, my name is Vladislav. Welcome to the tower of Jinn. Or what's left of it."Solberg just stares this asshole down until he gives his name first.
Solberg: "Solberg."
Ezekiel: "The Tower of Gin eh…?Ezekiel‘ glances around for any nearby taps.
Vladislav: "We’re actually standing on what was known as the moon-reflecting pool. Not that this holds any significance right now."
Solberg: They're usually loaded with springs, Ezekiel.
Eidolon: "What's a perfectly good tower doing in a frozen hellscape like this?"Vladislav glances at Eidolon. "You haven't seen winter? The story is over."
Ezekiel: "Uhhh."
Ezekiel: "We already read this book like two books ago."
Ezekiel: "Only you were an old lady."
Ezekiel: "Aurum plz."
Eidolon: "And yet, here you are."
Clarafina: "Time flows like a river,"
Clarafina: "And history repeats!"
Clarafina: "But…"
AURUM: 'God, could you seriously confuse the two of them, though? Really, c'mon.'Clarafina walks forward, and rubs her thumb across Vlad's cheek.
Clarafina: "Why is that?"Ezekiel‘ scratches at the back of his head.
Eidolon: "Us coming here, directly, and meeting you, is hardly coincidence."
Ezekiel: No I mean, it’s the same shit, thematically! Who are you anyway
AURUM: 'Wouldn't you like to know?'
Ezekiel: Well, yeah, that's why I asked yo.
AURUM: 'Heh.'
Ezekiel: Rude little voyerNameless‘ looks over the balcony. "What city was this?"Ezekiel` glares at the sky, glances back over at the party.
AURUM: Ugh, sorry about the two-narrators thing, Vlad. Must be a little disconcerting. Anyways… carry on.
Vladislav: "Jinn District. It was part of Titania. I think our mutual acquaintance actually wanted me to talk about this place."
Clarafina: "Our mutual acquaintance…?"
Nameless: "… Titania."
Ezekiel: "Isn’t titania some kind of fairy?"Vladislav gestures out into the distance. "The voice."Clarafina holds Vladislav by the chin and looks into his mouth, like one might a gift horse.
Ezekiel: "Oh the second narrator, you mean?"
Eidolon: "Spin a good yarn then, friend. I'm fairly sauced and will listen to about anything."
Solberg: "A reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Oberon and Titania were the King and Queen of the fairies."
Nameless: "…"Vladislav stares at Clarafina. "… what are you doing, exactly?"
Nameless: "Solberg."
Solberg: "Yes?"
Nameless: "Say that one more time please."Clarafina takes her hand away and paces around Vladislav, eyeing him. …She'll do more of that in a moment. I think something's about to happen.Solberg repeats themselves, but more slowly, hesitant and confused as to why Nameless here is so interested.
AURUM: 'Ahahaha, holy shit. That's the first time anyone's actually…'
AURUM: 'That's adorable.'Nameless‘ narrows his eyes. "Oberon. …"
Vladislav: "… I’m a bit bewildered myself. At any rate."
Ezekiel: "(That's what you ment by the voice, right???)" Ezekiel nods towards Vladislav, waiting for an answer.Vladislav smiles. "I can't actually say much on that front or what you're being used for. That's how scene skips happen, Ezekiel."Vladislav takes a deep breath. "Right. I'm not really good at this whole storytelling thing so listen up I'm only saying this once."Ezekiel‘ rolls around on the open ground a bit.Solberg flips open a notepad, putting rarely used stenography skills to use.Nameless` crouches and starts drawing on the surface of the pool. He may or may not be listening.
Vladislav: "Titania once had a man who hated suffering. He aimed to create a world with no cruelty. In my opinion? It was a pipe dream at best. For just one normal person to do something so grand? His system could never come without a cost. That was this city. Titania."
Vladislav: "To maintain this world one person had to suffer. A contraption to keep the world running. Stave off what was already prophesized to come by the biggest of all assholes. Whether it would have succeeded is up for debate since the device was shattered by another and the paradise they wished to create with it."Vladislav shrugs half heartedly. "Rather than subject the world to cruelty he chose to have them remember it for what it was."
Ezekiel: "I don’t think I get the aesope."Ezekiel‘ sits back up.
Vladislav: "Have you ever heard of something called the city heart?"
Eidolon: "In metaphor form."
Solberg: "So he made another version of a town called Omelas, essentially."
Solberg: "Is everything here just a ripoff from another story?"
Ezekiel: "Uhhh I’ve heard of places referrred to as the heart of a city but it's usually like, clubs or old buildings or something."
AURUM: 'Ouch.'
Ezekiel: "Omelas???"
Solberg: "I'll tell it to you sometime. The parallel is pretty obvious, though."
AURUM: 'That was pretty pro, Jo. You and I should work together, sometime.'Ezekiel‘ blinks slowly.Vladislav nods to Solberg. "All stories come from somewhere. Travellers such as yourselves could understand, I hope? To have to hop from story to story. When the city heart shattered the boundary between this story and where it was written got rather blurry."
Vladislav: "Briefly, at least."
Solberg: "Then again, I’m not one to talk. I named a city after something in the tale about the Ice Queen."
Clarafina: "Isn't the lesson simple?"
Clarafina: "You can't make a world without suffering,"
Clarafina: "If someone has to suffer."
Vladislav: "You'd think that was obvious, but…"
Clarafina: "…You've forgotten how to dream, haven't you?"Clarafina sets her hand on Vladislav's shoulder.
Clarafina: "What do you even want…?"
Nameless: "A world without suffering is impossible."
Vladislav: "… I want a lot of things. Some immediate, some less so."Nameless‘ stands up and draws his sword, dancing in a circle on the frozen quicksilver. And carving into it surface.Ezekiel` puts a hand in his pocket, pulls out a strange but not strange looking fruit, tosses it to Vladislav.
Solberg: "How would you define suffering, though? Lobotomize someone enough, strip away parts of their brain that perceive suffering, and voila, done. Perfectly placated populace."Vladislav catches the fruit before looking it over. "And this is…?"
Nameless: "Sometimes the best you can do… is raise an army."
AURUM: Delicious.
Ezekiel: "Food. That sounded like ’i'm hungry'."Ezekiel‘ shrugs.
AURUM: At least, it smells delicious. And tastes that way, too, if you try it. It tastes… like something from home. Back before the forests froze.
Ezekiel: "Could toss you a blunt if you prefer…?"Vladislav shakes his head. "If you would like to do me a favor I could borrow your assistance for a moment, though."
Ezekiel: "Well, I mean. I’m pretty sure we're stuck here until we do, so."Ezekiel‘ tilts his head in Nameless’ direction. "You okay bro?"Clarafina giggles.
Clarafina: "We accept your request!"Vladislav smiles. "Great. We're about to take a little walk, then. Come along."Clarafina promenades.
Solberg: "Sure. Though I'd like to at least hear other opinions on my prior statement."Nameless‘ stops. Stares at the scarred surface of the mercury. "A man… was from Oberon. As were his friends."Nameless` has carved a rough map.
Eidolon: "Well, he was right." He puts his hands into coat pockets, shifting stars about.
Eidolon: "He wasn’t much of a storyteller."
Ezekiel: "Oh. I guess hearing someone refer to your home as an old play is probably kinda weird, huh?"Eidolon follows.Ezekiel‘ rolls backwards, then onto his feet.
Vladislav: "My opinion on suffering…? I’m not trying to create a world without it."Nameless‘ laughs. "No, it was… fairly perfect."
AURUM: The quicksilver’s shifted around the cuts; recapitulated them. A fractal. (The same fractal as you saw when the quicksilver tower sprung into being, in the other wintered world…)
AURUM: Indescribably complex.Nameless‘ sheathes his sword and heads out with the others. He has the first of many names. Others will come.
Clarafina: "Suffering comes from unsated desire. Didn’t someone write that…?"
Clarafina: "So, to take away someone's suffering…"
Clarafina: "Bury them in a feast!"Ezekiel‘ glances down at the pound, gives a quiet ’woah', then turns to follow after Vladislav.Vladislav glances off into the distance speaking to the narrator. "Your sample size seems a bit… spoiled?"
AURUM: 'Deal with it, kid.'
Vladislav: "I mean, if we were going for accurate results you might not want to include…" He sighs. "Whatever. I just wanted to come back here."
Ezekiel: "Wait are we doing science?"
Clarafina: "Spoiled…"
Clarafina: "…Or ruined?"
AURUM: The Jinn tower's a labyrinth, but you find it soon enough. The furniture's all been cleared away - looks like a tornado went through.
AURUM: The giant vault doors of the [Office of Gems].
AURUM: There's a seal on it, forbidding and intricate.
Vladislav: "Right. I just need you to get this door open for me. It can't be opened by one person."Clarafina giggles.
Clarafina: "This is your great regret?"
Ezekiel: "Okay."Ezekiel‘ walks up to the seal, inspects it closely, then nods to himself.
Vladislav: "Look. You know exactly what other worlds are like."
Solberg: "A robbery? Is this how you’ll get the feast Clarafina thinks will ease your suffering?"
Ezekiel: "By the power invested in me by not giving a shit… I declare you, open!" Then rips the seal off and kicks the door open.
Vladislav: "This is a relic of a past age and I need samples. A lot of them."
AURUM: There's an infernal noise like he's ripping the world in half at the roots…
AURUM: But, I mean, it's not like the seal even puts up any resistance.Ezekiel‘ continues on with the power of not giving a shit!!!
AURUM: The doors buckle inwards, shattering into stone and dust.Clarafina slips in after.
Ezekiel: "Bam. What was so hard about that?"
AURUM: There’s a gust of wind -
Vladislav: "The issue was before you got here there wasn't enough mana to sustain this story without killing me."
AURUM: - and the cold void of space, beyond the threshold -
Ezekiel: "That sounds vaguely forboding."
Clarafina: "Shh."
Clarafina: "It's dead. It can't hurt you."Clarafina walks out into the void, stepping out upon her ribbons.
AURUM: The wind of the entire wintered world rushing out, pummeling you with an inexorable strength -
Clarafina: "Shh."
Ezekiel: "Oh no I mean what dracula said."
AURUM: Vladislav can't keep his footing- is it how billowy his robes are?Clarafina takes Vladislav's hand, tying him to her as she presses inwards.Ezekiel‘ slips in after Clara.
Clarafina: "You might…" She grits her teeth.
Clarafina: "…Only get one sample."
AURUM: …well, that’s kind of her, I suppose.Vladislav nods to Clarafina. "That said. You should really think more about why this is happening."
Vladislav: "You've at least heard the term Pure Heart before, right?"
Ezekiel: "Uhhh."
Solberg: "I can't recall."
Vladislav: "Well. Our man, the emperor. He was a normal person. Who tried to change the world. Shape it."
Solberg: "Not unless you mean 'pure-hearted maidens' in some weird virginity-as-superpowers story - "
Vladislav: "People like me however…? We can create worlds. Such is the privledge of a pure heart."
Vladislav: "What was known as the city heart played a vital role in him trying to mimic this process."
Ezekiel: "And yet,"
Ezekiel: "You couldn't even open a door…?Clarafina holds Vladislav against her, bracing him against the void-wind.
Vladislav: "… I would need to be with a party to not get wrecked by winter."
Clarafina: "To change the world, to shape it…"
Clarafina: "You have to know what you want."
Clarafina: "Have to know what you dream of."
Clarafina: "…You have to know what you'd like the world to be."
Clarafina: "You've been waiting, waiting, for others to bring you to a dead place, and…"
Clarafina: She gestures to the void.
AURUM: A slow clap, like two dead leaves striking each other with deliberate patience. The Jinn Emperor, sitting on a rickety wooden chair in the middle of space, watching all of this with one leg crossed over the other.
Clarafina: "You don't even know what you wanted to find."
Vladislav: "I do."Vladislav gestures to the emperor.
Clarafina: "Good." She kisses Vladislav on the nose.
[OOC] Clarafina: AF Vladislav
Clarafina: And hurls him into the void.
Ezekiel: WOAH THAT IS SOME FUCKED UP SHIT
AURUM: 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH'Ezekiel‘ stops, blinks rapidly, isn’t sure what he's even seeing asnd probably won't for a few more minutes because the narrators probably don't either.
AURUM: -and the Jinn Emperor's laughing, too, as Vladislav goes flying into the dark of space. There's even a little star-glint animation when he passes out of sight.
Ezekiel: "I uh…"
Ezekiel: "What?"Eidolon rubs his forehead.
AURUM: 'GET DUNKED ON'
AURUM: There's a pathway, leading off into the distance, made of rainbow-coloured lights. Not… in the direction Vlad flew, but, it seems to have somehow formed in his wake? Anyways…
Nameless: "I hadn't thought of that. Well done."
Clarafina: "The rest is up to him!"
Clarafina: "…Though, I should arrange a followup appointment in a day or so."
AURUM: The Emperor nods. "Well, that was satisfying. Thank you."Clarafina smiles brightly and curtsies to the emperor, before approaching. A princess… can come within eight paces, yes?
Solberg: "If our departed friend couldn't be here without a party to sustain him, how are you here?"
AURUM: "Really… I'm just an old man, now, Princess. I ought to be the one bowing to you."Solberg nods to the Emperor.
Clarafina: "Oh?"
Clarafina: "Then do."
Ezekiel: "I was gunna make some kind of GoT reference,"
AURUM: "…I'd like to say… 'that's the privilege of a Pure Heart', you know?"
Clarafina: "Unless you're just bluffing."
AURUM: "But, I can't."
Ezekiel: "And then that happened." Ezekiel gestures rainbowwardClarafina giggles. "Knew it."
Solberg: "So then, back to my original question - how?"
AURUM: "I can do… a few things, though. Like set a trap for an old friend."
Nameless: "When you play the Game of Thrones, you get pushed off a tower in the first book. Its true."
AURUM: "It turns out it's amazing how much a burning coal of bitterness can sustain you, I think."
AURUM: "I was… I was close, you know? I did… I knew what I wanted."
AURUM: "But 'a system cannot comprehend itself'. And in the end, I was just…" He shrugs. "Version one."
AURUM: "Have you met the Goldcoat?"
Clarafina: "You know, this is my first trip outside the palace."
Ezekiel: "The what now?"
Clarafina: "The Soaring Court!"
AURUM: "The… the Doctor. The Gold-Coat. One of you people."
Solberg: "Of what people?"
Eidolon: "What do you mean, 'you people'?"
Ezekiel: "Oh. Uh. I duno."
AURUM: "Pure Hearts." He spits it, a little.
Ezekiel: "Maybe he means Nine?"
Eidolon: "OKay, alright, I'm sorry I asked."
Eidolon: "No, no, we haven't."
Nameless: "Nines coat isnt gold."
AURUM: "Mmm. If you meet him, don't trust him if he offers you anything." He leans back in his chair.
Nameless: "He makes good tea."
Eidolon: "We'll probably take the offering anyway, but we'll be wary of it all the same."
Solberg: "Ezekiel's mentioned something about 'Aurum' here and there, but … he's pretty out there."
Solberg: "Which, you know, 'au,' 'gold.'"
AURUM: "…huh."
AURUM: 'fucken lol.'
AURUM: "…anyways, you're… looking at the big picture, aren't you? Restoring the mana flow on a grand scale…?"
Eidolon: "Anything else? 'Don't take any wooden nickels?'"
Ezekiel: Are YOU Goldcoat???
AURUM: 'God no.'
Ezekiel: "Oh, Aurum's the first narrator, Zoidberg."
AURUM: He stands, with some difficulty.
AURUM: Takes a deep breath…
Solberg: "It's a side concern, I suppose. I think we're chasing individual carrots, and our path just so happens to align."
AURUM: …exhales, and in the exhalation, the memories of a world. What was given up… what was sacrificed… the strength of mercy of one man, fated to fight his world's fate. His hope; his resignation. It settles around your shoulders like a shawl.
Ezekiel: "Mine's a tootsie pop not a carror, fyi."
AURUM: He sits back down again, heavily. "…may as well take that with you, then."
Ezekiel: "Oh hahahah that guy dropped a moon on you."
Ezekiel: "I guess that explains why hime tossing him made you laugh."
AURUM: "It was… rather satisfying."
Ezekiel: "Tough luck goin' for final boss tho, that never works out for final bosses."Solberg pauses, sifting through the newfound memories of the exhalation.
Clarafina: "Sometimes, though."
Ezekiel: "Shoulda aimed for weird ass mentors that never gives straight answers!"
Clarafina: "It's the only thing you can be."
AURUM: 'God Ezekiel that ends TERRIBLY trust me on this one.'
Ezekiel: What??? Obi-wan doesn't ALWAYS die, and anyway, he got what he wanted in the end.
AURUM: The Emperor half-closes his eyes, waves vaguely in the direction of the starlit path.
Nameless: The higher ground?
Solberg: "What happened with the underworld? What'd you do with the power that weaver gave you?"
AURUM: Opens his eyes again.
AURUM: "…I squandered it. All of it. Taken for a fool."
AURUM: "I'd do it again."
Clarafina: "Are you sincere?"
Clarafina: "Do you mean that, with all your heart?"
AURUM: "It was… the right thing to do. Faced with untenable circumstances… I considered my imperative."
AURUM: "I'd like to say I have no regrets, but… that, too, I think, is the privilege of a Pure Heart."Ezekiel‘ glances at Clarafina, glances at her axe, takes a few steps away form ehr and the emperor. All discreet and subtle like.
Solberg: "… are you going to hurl them into the void again, Clarafina?"
Clarafina: "They say…"
Clarafina: "That those with Pure Hearts…"
Ezekiel: "No way that’s her 'strike 'em down' question."
Clarafina: "Can send you to a whole new world."
Ezekiel: "SEE!"Clarafina giggles, breaking her straightface, smiling at Ezekiel.
Clarafina: "Eh, eh, am I that predictable?"
Solberg: "Like clockwork."
Ezekiel: "I'm just perceptive!"
Clarafina: "Ah… I guess I shouldn't feel bad, though."
AURUM: "You're radiant with Jinn, you know? It was always a struggle, for me. A painful choice, to turn away."
AURUM: "But you…" He half-smiles.Clarafina full-smiles.
Clarafina: "Someone who won't compromise,"
Nameless: "She is good at what she does, and there's no denying it."
Clarafina: "Someone who believes in better ways,"
Clarafina: "Someone who dreams and shatters the rules-"
Clarafina: "Your only sin was settling…"
Clarafina: "For less than perfection."
Clarafina: "Become a shooting star!"
Clarafina: "There are worlds that still have need of you."Clarafina picks the Emperor's chair up.
AURUM: The Emperor accepts Clarafina's judgement; doesn't move to resist. Even smiles.Clarafina hurls him towards the new world!
Clarafina: …Well, I mean.
Clarafina: Down where she sent Vladislav.
Clarafina: …Comets have long, long orbits.Clarafina dusts her hands off.
Clarafina: "I should solve every problem like this!"Solberg picks Clarafina up.
AURUM: Oh no!
Clarafina: "Oh! Oh no!"Solberg … sets her down again.
Clarafina: "This isn't what I -"Clarafina exhales a sigh of relief.
Clarafina: "I was worried, for a second."
Solberg: "Don't make me follow suit for real."
Ezekiel: "So uh."
Clarafina: "Ah…"
Ezekiel: "This has been a really weird book."
Clarafina: "Well, there was nothing left for either of them here, was there…?"
Ezekiel: "Oh."
Nameless: "Not since he took his chair with him."
Solberg: "But there's plenty for you here."
Solberg: "See aforementioned carrot."
Ezekiel: "Shit we should check for gems before it colapses!"
[OOC] Clarafina: http://storagebin.wikispaces.com/Mana-Geode#x-JINN%20LOCK-So%20It%20GoesEzekiel‘ glances around, hops down further into the vault if possible. Might as well collect some gems to pawn off later if possible!
AURUM: ’Haaaahahahahahahahaha oh wow. That's perfect. That wasn't even intentional. Wow.'
AURUM: A- anyways…
Clarafina: "Sometimes things just work out." She smiles and heads down the starway.
Ezekiel: Wait is the other dude reading this book, not your, Aurum??
AURUM: …there's just the cold of space out here, anyways. W- were there ever any gems here at all…?
Ezekiel: "Bogus."
Nameless: Just stick to the grid, dont be greedy. It'll work out.
AURUM: There's words written in the rainbow starlight, but you can't make them out quite yet. Maybe they'll clear up a bit later.
Ezekiel: "Well, uh. I guess that's it?"
AURUM: Seems like there's some kind of debris field in the distance. …sails? Crystals? Glossair rings, broken in half by some monstrous force..?
AURUM: Seems like that's it for this book…Gained 20 XP